Lenin ceded more than 1 million square kilometers of German land. Why did he find out eight months later that his approach was too clever?

If you talk about the world's largest country, everyone will think of Russia today. Russia's predecessor was Tsarist Russia. Russia is the country with the largest land area in the world. The reason why it has such a large territory is mainly because Russia is particularly greedy for land. As long as there is an opportunity, it will never let go of any opportunity to invade.

No matter what time it is, Russia seems to have never given up the opportunity to expand its territory, and every time it opens its mouth. For example, during the late Qing Dynasty, it snatched more than 1 million square kilometers of fertile land from China, which is now the best land suitable for human habitation in Russia. It may seem to us Chinese that this place is extremely cold, but for Russia, which is close to the Arctic Circle, it is already an excellent geomantic treasure.

However, even though Russia is particularly greedy for land, Russia has actually suffered losses in terms of territory? It once signed the "Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty" with Germany, in which Russia actually agreed to cede 100 Russia gave up its sovereignty over tens of thousands of square kilometers of land, including Poland and Lithuania at that time.

There is no doubt that this is an unprecedented shame for Russia, so why did Russia sign such an unequal treaty at that time? In fact, only after seeing it later did we realize the brilliance inside.

1.

The matter dates back to the First World War. In 1917, the First World War had entered its third year. At that time, the war between Germany and Russia The war between the two countries has entered a white-hot stage, and although Russia's territory is unprecedentedly large, it is restricted by its backward domestic system, and its strength is only an illusion. In fact, it does not have the hard power to compete with Germany, so Russia's important industrial areas are rapidly Occupied by German troops.

At this time, the Tsar, who was not willing to be subordinated to others, added fuel to the fire. In order to confront Germany, he increased the oppression of the domestic Democratic Party and forced the people to perform military service and go to the front line to confront Germany. Due to severe state oppression, many peasant uprisings and riots broke out in Russia. At that time, Russia spent a lot of military and material resources to suppress these riots.

So, it can be said that Russia at that time was in a situation of internal and external troubles, which was no different from the Ming Dynasty before its demise.

2.

Later, the Russian riots rose from the basic peasant class to the high-level society. In February 1917, the February Revolution broke out in Russia, and the Lomanov dynasty was overthrown, and the Tsar was forced to abdicate. However, the national conflicts within Soviet Russia were not completely resolved after the February Revolution. The struggle between classes was still very intense, and the situation of internal and external troubles was not greatly alleviated.

In October, Lenin, who was of German descent, led everyone to launch the October Revolution again. After the success of the October Revolution, the Soviet Federal Socialist State, the first socialist country, was established. However, the establishment of the Soviet regime did not end the war between Russia and Germany. Instead, the internal conflicts in the country became more serious.

Since there was no armistice between Soviet Russia and Germany, the new government would naturally continue the war with Germany, and the war would inevitably continue to consume a large amount of materials. Continuing the war would not alleviate the pressure on farmers. Moreover, at that time, various domestic forces opposed to the Soviet regime were launching rebellion movements everywhere, and voices for independence or separatism were rising everywhere. But for the newly formed Soviet government at that time, it was a very difficult thing to stabilize the entire country.

If you want to stabilize the country, you must first stop foreign wars. Therefore, the leader of Soviet Russia at that time, Lenin, also proposed an armistice with Germany and adjust its military forces to commit to the civil war within Soviet Russia. After Soviet Russia proposed an armistice, Germany did give up the offensive and started armistice negotiations with Soviet Russia.

3.

In fact, although Germany at that time had always had an advantage in the war with Russia, due to its small land area, it was difficult for Germany to continue to support it during the long war. went on, so Germany agreed to the armistice agreement proposed by Soviet Russia.

However, although Germany was not ideal, the situation of Soviet Russia at that time was worse than that of Germany. Therefore, Germany also wanted to take the opportunity to ask for a batch of compensation from Soviet Russia to make up for its losses in the war? After the two sides started negotiations, , Germany proposed that Russia cede some territories such as Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania, and these territories covered an area of ​​more than 1 million square kilometers. In addition, Germany also demanded 3 billion rubles in compensation.

Germany’s asking price is obviously a big deal. Tsarist Russia has always been a warlike nation, also known as the polar bear in battle, so after the generals at the time heard about such an unequal terms, they even planned to directly refuse the peace talks. But Lenin, the leader of Soviet Russia at the time, recognized the outcome of such a negotiation and demanded the signing of such a treaty.

However, although Lenin strongly advocated agreeing to such a condition, due to many opponents, the treaty was not successfully signed, and the first negotiation between the Soviet Union and Germany failed.

After the talks collapsed, the Soviet Union and Germany went to war again, but it was obvious that Russia, which had experienced internal and external troubles, was no match for Germany in terms of comprehensive national strength. Germany easily defeated Petrograd, the capital of Soviet Russia at the time. .

4.

As the German troops approached the city, negotiations between the Soviet Union and Germany started again.

Since Germany has more advantages this time than before, during the negotiation process between the two parties, Germany proposed a higher bargaining chip and wanted to compensate for more land, and the compensation changed from 3 billion to 6 billion. Although Germany's request this time was even more excessive, the previous Soviet leaders did not raise too many objections during this negotiation.

Because judging from the situation at the time, the Soviets were no match for Germany. If it continued, this new regime would only lead to destruction.

At that time, most of the top leaders of the Soviet Union agreed to such a treaty after pretending to insist on it. The contract clearly stipulated the land ceded by Soviet Russia to Germany, including what is now Finland, Ukraine, and Poland. , Lithuania and other elite areas that have been operating for hundreds of years? This more than 1 million square kilometers is not a large area of ​​land for Russia, but it was the most developed industrial area in Russia in the early years and the most economically prosperous area. This place is also the most densely populated place in the entire Soviet Russia, with 90% of the coal and 70% of the iron ore in the entire Russia. More than half of the industry is concentrated here, and its status is equivalent to that of the developed coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in China.

So, although it only removed more than 1 million square kilometers, for Russia at the time, it was equivalent to weakening 1/5 of the entire Russian power. This is why Russia never agreed at the time. .

However, because Lenin’s voice within Russia was too high at that time, most people had unprecedented admiration for Lenin, so they finally chose to believe in Lenin. However, despite this, many people in the country still thought that he was An out-and-out traitor.

5.

However, as time went by, Lenin’s brilliance became apparent.

Because not long after the contract was signed, about eight months later, the First World War ended. The day after Germany announced its defeat, Lenin declared that the treaty originally signed with Germany was illegal, denied all the contents of the treaty, and immediately declared war with Germany and took back the areas occupied by Germany. In other words, even though such an unequal treaty was signed, Russia did not suffer much loss from beginning to end.

Some people think this is just a coincidence, but why don’t we think back and think about it. This may be Lenin’s strategy of exchanging space for time. Lenin's excellent political sense told him that he was not Germany's opponent for the time being and needed enough time to develop and consolidate his power. Germany was actually at the end of its strength at that time and could not last long. All he had to do was "waste" and hold Germany back. That’s it. Sure enough, he succeeded. Not only did he successfully get rid of the traitor's hat, but his reputation also reached its peak and he became a god in the eyes of the Russians.